It's the end of the world, as we know it...

AbsoluteDestiny · Post by **AbsoluteDestiny** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 6:34 am

Yeah, it cant handle super high bitrates but I do know one thing - having every episode of an unlicensed show burned to a DVD-R is a very nice thing indeed.

DJ_Izumi · Post by **DJ_Izumi** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:25 pm

3000-4000kbps is pretty high for Mpeg-4 as it is. Since most movies are bootlegged at around 800-1200 kbps, on a standard NTSC display, most Divx would seem nearly flawless.

I know different consols can be modded to play divx, even the Dreamcast could play Divx at lower resolutions, but that's not my point. Right now, we're talking about the most idiot proof method in existance, this brings bootlegging to the 'extream low end' of users, there ARE non-technichly inclined can easily download, burn, and watch what ever they want. With BitTorrent becomming the successor to IRC DCC Methods, things are also brought down a level in complexity involving getting the bootlegged materials.

klinky · Post by **klinky** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 2:24 pm

The concept of downloading and burning to most people is of great trouble for some people...

Still though, we're l33t people. I like getting good value, I am not impressed with these players and I doubt it having DivX is going to make alot of people change their mind. I can get a DVD player for like $50, or even $29.99 if I want to get trampled. I can't see someone justifying the $150 - $250 extra for a KiSS DivX/DVD player.

Actually, doing a search just now brought up the Lite-On LVD2002 which supports DivX as well and can be had for $111 which is pretty good. Though reading around on the web it seems the DVD player can be flakey.

Neither unit supports ogg and I wonder how good the multi-stream support is. What about softsubs?

I guess I'll concide and say that the Lite-on sounds like a fair deal. But I'd rather have an XboX running @ 733Mhz decoding my stuff over some dinky custom chip. >_> <_<. I am probably wrong about it being dinky tho...

Bah!

DJ_Izumi · Post by **DJ_Izumi** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 2:46 pm

I know an Xbox can handle OGG and Matroska, softsubs included, but I havn't seen anything in a standardized console DVD player.

The problem with OGG and Matroska is both are rather experimental and still potentially probmatic. Most DVD players are incapable of real, text based overlays, the icons, subtitles, everything else on most all DVD players are just comprised of Bitmaps where-as Matroska and OGM use true text based subtitles, the DVD player would have to have the ability to generate scalable adjustable subtitles in SRT standard. Then life gets more complicated. Heh.

AbsoluteDestiny · Post by **AbsoluteDestiny** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 3:15 pm

The Elsa player that doom9 keeps posting about is going through firmware revisions to allow it to do ogm.... and maybe even matroska in the future.

srt subs are supported on the kiss player and a bunch are supported on the Elsa one with more to follow.

Personally I think the players are great. Sure they promote piracy but for me they allow me to watch amvs and fansubs on my TV. I'm hoping to get a wireless networked player in the future so I can just play stuff straight from my PC without loads of cat5 cables everywhere.

Declan_Vee · Post by **Declan_Vee** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 3:34 pm

I'm going to stand with Klinky on this one.
A modded Xbox is a much more desirable alternative.
I'd run through a budget for such a thing then I remembered the cost issues. So I'll leave you to figuire out the costs.
Xbox+modding+HD (Put a 200Gb HD in there and you're laughing)
I'm sure all that space would save Ian from likely cat5 strangulation.

Yes, this does dumb things down. It's only inevitable.

DJ_Izumi · Post by **DJ_Izumi** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 4:54 pm

You say 'Dumb things down' that's a bit condesending. You have to understand that there are different levels of skill and ability in the world. My father is an Electronics Technologist for NavCanada who does ATC simulator instalations and maintance, but he wouldn't know how to go about setting an Xbox to play downloaded video content to enjoy movies. The internet and gameing machines just arn't his forte, meanwhile, he's certianly not a 'n00b' who wouldn't know a radio from a toaster. It's simply a fact that this brings things to a more universal level of ease.

If you can download MP3's and burn them to a CD (Not even an Audio CD) you now have the technical skills required to download movies and burn them to data CD. It basicly makes easy film bootlegging and viewing easy enough for everyone who only 'casually' uses computers and the internet. All they need to do is ask Santa for a KISS player, or similar product.

I think most can agree, that for those who produce movies, television and the like, that this is bad

AbsoluteDestiny · Post by **AbsoluteDestiny** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 5:01 pm

*shrugs*

tapes were bad
blank cds were bad
vcds were bad
blank dvds are bad
divx is bad

People still want the products, people still buy the products.

I can get any dvd I want for next to nothing pirated if I want to - I dont because I like the official product. It's like mp3s, people can get a whole album but priced right people still prefer a cd.

Downloading pirated divxed movies requires effort that the average user that you are describing does not like to exert. I don't think it will make any real difference to the market.

DJ_Izumi · Post by **DJ_Izumi** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 5:07 pm

Macrovision was a pretty good VHS-2-VHS protection system, it prevented the end user from easily reproducing tapes, while yes, VHS could be bootlegged (Remember that episode of Seinfield? :P) Though it wasn't nearly as easy to 'transfer' bootlegged VHS amongst others since you have to try on the physical world. I'm kinda supprised they never developed a protection system to keep CD's from being copied to cassette.... Hrm.

risk one · Post by **risk one** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 5:33 pm

Declan_Vee wrote:Yes, this does dumb things down. It's only inevitable.

I think even downloading movies from kazaa and burning them to dvd/cd requires a considerable amount of skill (not to mention upgrading video codecs through firmware).
Of course this is something the average editor/dvd-ripper would jest at, but I think this level of computer litteracy is something far beyond the reach of the average consumer (or at least most of my family

).

Also once you really get into downloading stuff of fasttrack/gnutella you start having to adjust badly synced audio, download exotic codecs and fix other weird compatibility issues, so the really l33t (if that's a term that applies to hardcore kazaa users) will want to use good old fashioned pc.
I wonder what the real target audience for a device like this is.